Gap closer for irrigation ridges



Jan. 22, 1946. E. R. BENNETT GAP CLOSER FOR IRRIGATI ON RIDGES Filed Aug. 25, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet l Jan. 22, 1946; BENNETT 2,393,279

I GAP GLOS ER FOR IRRIGATION RIDGES Filed Aug. 25, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.2-

' E. R. B ENI NETT 2,393,279

- GAP CLOSERFOR IRRIGATION RIDGES Filed Aug. 25, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 ERfienneZZ Patented Jan. 22, 1946 This invention relates toagricultural implements, and. particularly tea gap. closer for irrigation. r-idgesiand checks, fonclosing the depressionsor gapsmade by the wheels of 'a tractor and ridger implement passing. over the ridges."-

- The. -.major. object. .of mylinizention is I to. provideial. device for "the purpose. adapted tohe mounted on a tractor orimplement atits rear end and having one or. more'sets of gapLclQsing blades .awhose functioning: is. readily? controlled by the loperator of the. tractoror impiement. -I 7 Another; object is to mount the blades so:..that while they are/ordinarily released; .byithe opera-.. ton fior rearward movement clear. orthe. dirt previouslygscraped upibythe blades, they;

yleldgof :..themselves in, the: event that they. strike an; obstruction which: would; otherwise; damage the 7 The ap. closing'jdevice. includes a pair of blade units spaced apart to correspond to the: Spaceing ointhejgap made bysthe ridger; and another Figure 1 is a side elevation of myimproved gap closer as mounted on a tractor.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the same. Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional elevation of the latch and trip mechanism.

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic plan showing a modified mount and control of the blade units.

Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on the drawings, and particularly at present to Figs. 1 to 3, the tractor I includes rear wheels 2 and a cross bar 3 rear- ED sleeps manner a.

Z I g Elbert mnennett n t Calif;

' Al lflicationAugu'st. 25

1944, SpriaLNa. 55.1211; 3 t eak- 1 01.

al'clutch. fitment. a fixed thereon. and. adapted tor-b'efreleasably engaged with a cooperating clutch Ill slidably but non-turnably mounted on theshaftla V laterally out. from. the lzar'm's 5. the. shafts i and each; carries a blade; unitJcompr-ising .a pair of opposed substantially. radial blades. H; wider; thanand in the path of; the wheels .2,"and adapted to engagei the ground. when depending atia slight fo'rwa'rdangle; asshown in Fig. l.

- Rigid with the shaft] between the adjacent arm 5;:and the :clutch ele nent 9 areopposed catch arms. i.2,1one for each'blade, extending substantially at rightangles tothe blades, E'iach arm, when'the corresponding blade is in a ground engaging position, projects forwardly and isvthen adapted-tel rest at'its .forwardyend on alatch orholdingtongue 13. This tongue adjacent-its rear end is slidably supported ina guide-14.: hung; from. an 1 upstanding. stem. vli'nslidQJJle. through a supporting plate. 151'. clamped on: the. bars 3;, A heavy compression spring i1 is disposed about the stem between the plate and an adjustable collar I8 on the upper end of the stem.

The guide I4 is rigid with a forwardly projecting bar or plate l9, which at its forward end is rigid with depending links 20 pivoted above the bar on ears 2| depending from the plate I6. The tongue extends lengthwise of the tractor and is slidably supported on the bar l9 and projects ahead of the links 20 somewhat, being guided adjacent its forward end between said bar l9 and wardly of the wheels and connected to the trac- Y tor by draft arms 4 adapted to be raised and lowered to control the level of the bar.

, The gap closer is detachably mounted on the bar 3, and comprises a pair of draftarms 5 secured on and projecting rearwardly from the bar and having journal boxes 6 at their rear end turnably supporting relatively tumable separate shafts 1 and 8. The shaft 1 laterally inward of the corresponding arm and journal box has the link pivot bolt 22 thereabove.

The trip mechanism for the latch tongue comprises a foot lever 23 pivoted between the links 20 below the bar l9 and extending forwardly to a position convenient for pressure by a foot of the operator occupying the seat 24 on the tractor. An upstanding lug 25 I on the lever projects through an opening 26 in the tongue just ahead of the links. A spring 21 between the lever and plate It acts to pullthe lever up and thus maintain the tongue in its rearward position. By reasonof the above described arrangement it will be seen that if the clutch elements are disconnected only that blade unit which is rigid with the catch arms will be under control, the other unit merely hanging free.

When any blade is in ground engaging position and the corresponding catch arm is engaged with the tongue I 3, dirt will be piled up by the blade to close the gap in the check or ridge left by the passage of the corresponding ridger implement. When it is desired to trip the blade so as to leave this piled-up dirt in place it is only necessary for the operator to depress the lever 23. This withdraws the tongue from the arm 12, allowing the blade II to swing free and rotate until the other blade and the other arm I2 are in operative position. As soon as the lever 23 is released the tongue will return to its normal position to engage said other arm, if it is desired to do so.

When a blade is in ground engagement, the backward tendency torotation of the blade imparts a downward pressure on the arm l-2. Ordinarily the spring I! resists such downward pressure but if the blade strikes a relatively nonyielding obstruction the spring is overcome. The tongue and its supporting structure, including the links 20, then swing down as a unit about the bolt 22 as an axis, as indicated in Fig. 1, until the catch arm l2 passes by the tongue.

The blade can thus swing clear of an obstruction without I blade unit if desired.

Also, as shown in Fig. 4, each blade unit Ha may have its own catch arm unit 12a and a corresponding latch and trip mechanism including a latch tongue l3 and a foot lever 23a, the levers being disposed on opposite sides of the seat 24a. Though here described as being mounted on a tractor, the device may also be mounted directly on the ridger implement or other vehicle.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that I have produced such a device as substantially fulfills theobjects of the invention as set forth herein.

. While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred construction of the device,

still in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: I

1. A gap closer for use on a vehicle having ground engaging members comprising, with a mounting bar at the rear end of thetractor, a transverse shaft rearwardly of the; bar, means turnably supporting the shaft from the bar, a blade to engage the ground fixed on the shaft in the path of the vehicle member, a holding arm fixed on and projecting forwardly from the shaft when the blade is in ound engaging position, a latch tongue on the rear end of which the arm rests when the blade is in said ground engaging position, the tongue extending lengthwise of the vehicle, guide means engaging the tongue for longitudinal sliding movement, manual means to slide the tongue, means pivoting the guide means on the bar for downward movement at the rear end, and spring means resisting such downward movement ofthe guide means;

2. A device as in claim 1 in. which'said manual means includes a forwardly projecting foot lever pivotedon the guide means adjacent its forward end and below the tongue.

3. A gap closer for use on a vehicle having ground engaging members comprising, with a mounting bar at the rear end of the vehicle, alined transverse shafts rearwardly of. the bar,

means supporting the shafts from the bar for independent rotation, blades to engage the blade, and releasable connection means between the shafts. 1

"ELBERT R. BENNETT. 

